1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lawn and garden tractor having a mower unit vertically movably attached to a tractor body, a grass catcher attached to the tractor body, a duct for transporting grass clippings cut by the mower unit to the grass catcher, and a blower unit for aiding the transport of grass clippings.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional lawn tractor of this type is exemplified by the mid-mount type lawn tractor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,315. This tractor includes a mower unit suspended from a tractor body through a link mechanism or the like. The mower unit has a housing extending transversely of the tractor body. with one end thereof projecting from a right side of the tractor body. A blower unit is fixed to a grass outlet formed in the projecting end of the housing.
In the above conventional construction, however, the center of gravity of the entire mower unit is offset transversely of the tractor body toward the projecting end because of the weight of the blower unit. Thus, the mower unit has an imbalance of weight transversely of the tractor body. During a grass cutting operation, the mower unit tends to dip at one side thereof, resulting in a grass cutting height varying transversely of the tractor body, and in unsteady vertical movement of the mower unit.
These inconveniences may be overcome by employing a construction in which the blower unit is supported by the tractor body instead of the mower unit, thereby to eliminate the imbalance of the mower unit due to the weight of the blower unit. Such a construction requires modifications in a positional relationship of the grass transporting duct to the grass outlet of the mower unit and the blower unit, and in a power transmitting structure from the engine to the mower unit and blower unit. These modifications must be effected without impairing performance or raising cost. For this purpose, it is necessary to seek a new lawn tractor construction, taking into account an arrangement and construction of the duct and blower unit collectively.
One such lawn tractor construction has been proposed by some of inventors in this application and disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 08/305951 filed SEP. 29, 1994. In this new lawn tractor, a blower unit is supported by a body frame. The blower unit and mower unit receive engine power through an engine output shaft and a blower input shaft, and through the output shaft and a mower input shaft, respectively. These output shaft and input shafts are arranged longitudinally of the tractor. Further, a first and a second intermediate shafts are arranged between the mower input shaft and blower input shaft. The mower input shaft has three pulleys mounted thereon, which are connected through belts to the engine output shaft, a mower blade drive shaft and the first intermediate shaft, respectively. The first intermediate shaft has two pulleys mounted thereon, which are connected through belts to the mower input shaft and second intermediate shaft, respectively. The second intermediate shaft also has two pulleys, which are connected through belts to the first intermediate shaft and blower input shaft.